


Musings of a Twilight Town Ice Cream Vendor

by Lightbulbs



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Game: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, Gen, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 19:19:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17793224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lightbulbs/pseuds/Lightbulbs
Summary: An ice cream vendor in Twilight Town thinks about two of his best customers.





	Musings of a Twilight Town Ice Cream Vendor

The vendor remembers when he first met Axel.

At the time, Axel was just a strange, gangly man in a black hooded robe. He’d come into the shop during the twilight hour, the air outside cool but just hot enough to justify buying ice cream. He had a vaguely threatening aura, his teardrop-shaped facial tattoos adding to his unnerving air.

After staring at the menu, Axel had ordered a single sea salt ice cream. He took a bite, then immediately stared at the half-eaten ice pop. He stared so long that it started to melt, little rivulets of blue running down his wrist.

The next day, he was back.

***

Axel continued to stop by the shop, always around the same time. Even as the weather grew cold, he never skipped his ice cream. He started to let down his guard, making stupid jokes and griping about his mysterious job. (He’d never say what it was, though it involved a lot of travel.) He always asked, “Got it memorized?”

The vendor did, in fact, have Axel’s order memorized.

One day, Axel bought two ice creams. “What's the occasion?” the vendor asked, and damned if Axel didn’t tip his head to the side, as if a bit unsure of the question.

Finally Axel said, “I'm getting an ice cream for a new friend.”

The vendor offered to upgrade the ice cream, to enrobe it in a thick shell of dark chocolate, or to stud it with candied fruits, but Axel was adamant about getting his usual order. “It’s the best flavor,” Axel said.

The next evening, Axel bought two ice creams. “He liked it,” he said.

***

At some point, Axel showed up with someone wearing a black hooded robe.

Axel’s friend refused to take off his hood, but tufts of spiky blond hair framed his blank, emotionless face. He watched Axel navigate the ice cream counter with the surety of a true aficionado, but said nothing.

This continued for weeks. Sometimes Axel bought two ice creams. Sometimes Axel’s friend—Roxas—would come with him.

Roxas was chattier now, not the zombie he’d been that first day. He asked about things happening around town, like he was investigating mysteries. The vendor knew a lot of secrets, and a lot of gossip, and Roxas was delighted to hear him spin his tales.

“So the fifth wonder is…”

***

The ice cream shop settled into a peaceful rhythm. Axel, Roxas, ice cream. Always sea salt flavor, always in the evening. Even as new customers trickled in—including a group of students who reminded the vendor of the black-robed duo—he could rely on the consistency of Axel and Roxas visiting the shop.

Until he couldn’t.

It happened so suddenly, the vendor didn’t even realize what had happened. Axel didn’t show up. First one night, then another.

Had he moved? Did his job relocate him away from Twilight Town?

Roxas still stopped by, ordering a single ice cream. The vendor wanted to ask about Axel, but the look on Roxas’s face was so sad, he held his tongue.

***

Time passed.

Roxas came into the shop one evening, looking over the list of ice cream flavors as if he were considering buying something other than sea salt. He looked... happy. Or perhaps hopeful.

Watching him, the vendor’s thoughts went elsewhere. He wondered how Axel was doing. He thought about how many packages of sea salt ice cream he had left in the freezer. (The flavor was surprisingly popular this year.)

Was there a box on the back shelf? What about—

“Two, please.”

The vendor was so surprised by Roxas’s request that he wasn’t sure how to respond. The words came out unbidden: “What’s the occasion?”

“I’m getting ice cream for a new friend.”

The vendor smiled. "The second one is on the house."


End file.
